Sept. 6, 2005
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Back at Home
The Hawkeyes are back in Iowa City this weekend after a three-game road trip to California. Iowa hosts Ball State at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and then will take on Providence Sunday at 1 p.m. All home field hockey contests are held at the new Grant Stadium located next to the Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame on Mormon Trek Avenue in Iowa City.
Hawkeyes Win Big Under The California Sun
Iowa didn’t let two early season losses get them down before their three-game road trip to California last weekend. The Hawkeyes, who lost in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge to Wake Forest and North Carolina, went 3-0 behind the goalkeeping of Lissa Munley and scoring effort of Debbie Birrell.
The Hawkeye offense, which sputtered in their first two contests of the season, came alive against Stanford with two goals in the first 11 minutes of the game. Junior Kara Zappone scored Iowa’s first goal on a corner shot and sophomore Kadi Sickel found the net just seconds later. Later in the second half, senior Debbie Birrell scored her eighth career goal and the Hawkeyes went on to win 3-1.
The Hawkeye field hockey team picked up their second win Saturday night against the Golden Bears of California. After a strong offensive effort against Stanford on Friday, Iowa kept the momentum rolling to beat the Bears 2-1.
Birrell scored at the 31:56 mark in the first half against California for a 1-0 Iowa lead. Freshman Lauren Pfeiffer scored her first collegiate goal in the middle of the second half to put the Hawkeyes up 2-0. Cal’s offense woke up for one goal, but the comeback was too little, too late, however, as Iowa prevailed 2-1.
In Monday’s contest against Pacific, several Hawkeyes scored goals. Kelly Slattery found Birrell open for a goal just 7:48 seconds into the game and minutes later Kadi Sickel scored Iowa’s second goal after a pass from Pfeiffer to lead the game 2-0. Kara Zappone and Birrell each had solo shots before the half to give Iowa a 4-0 advantage. Midway through the second half, two young Hawkeyes hooked up for a score when Caitlin McCurdy found Pfeiffer open for a goal. Katie Naughton scored her first collegiate goal to make it 6-1 and Slattery took a pass from McCurdy with just over ten minutes left in the game to put the Iowa lead at 7-1. Birrell finished her hat trick seconds later to cement the Iowa win, 8-1.
Ball State
This Friday’s game between the Ball State Cardinals and Iowa Hawkeyes will be the 21st meeting of the schools. Iowa holds an 18-2 advantage over Ball State. The last contest was in Iowa City in 2003 when the Hawkeyes earned a 2-0 win.
Ball State is 0-2 this season following a two-game spurt in Virginia. The Cardinals lost their season opener to William & Mary, 4-1, and then dropped a 7-1 contest to the University of Virginia.
Forwards Lindsay Quay and Chantel Isaac-Smith each have one goal this season. Quay, a first team Mid-American Conference pick, led the Cardinals with seven goals last season. Isaac-Smith had a team-high seven assists in 2004.
Jessica Malone and Tracy Bannister each have one start in 2005. Malone had six saves and gave up four goals to William & Mary. In two years at Ball State, Mallone has a 1-3 record with a goals against average of 1.91 and a .625 save percentage
Bannister, is in her final season at Ball State, and has a career record of 11-23. She has a 2.11 goals against average and a save percentage of .683. This year she saved three shots against the Virginia Cavaliers, but allowed seven goals through, including four by Katie Phillips.
Annette Payne, a University of Iowa graduate, is in her third season as head coach for the Cardinals. In her first two years, Payne has led her teams to a combined 27-49 record overall. Payne is only the fifth head coach in Ball State’s 31-year history.
Payne was a four-year letter winner for the Hawkeyes from 1994 -1997. A two-year starter and a captain in 1997, Payne tallied 12 goals and three assists as a midfielder for the Hawkeyes. She was also a part of the 1995 and 1996 squads that went 10-0 on the way to Big Ten Championships and was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams.
Providence
The Providence College Friars are 2-1 following a three-game home stand. Providence dropped a 2-1 decision to Ohio in their season opener, but rebounded with an 8-1 victory over the University of Vermont. After battling to a 1-1 tie at the half against Northeastern University this past Sunday, the Friars ended up losing 5-2. Before their matchup with Iowa, Providence will play Holy Cross at home and then will face Ball State in Iowa City.
This weekend’s meeting will be only the third time that Providence and Iowa have faced off in field hockey, with Iowa holding a 2-0 edge.
In Sunday’s game, two sisters will face each other for the first time at the collegiate level. Lauren Sickel is a junior midfielder for the Friars and her younger sister, Kadi, is a back for Iowa.
Sophomore Abby Maguire leads Providence with four goals and one assist; Melissa McGow is next with two goals and one assist. Five other Friars have one goal each.
Stephanie Scavelli has logged the majority of the time in net this season for Providence. The freshman has 21 saves for a .724 save percentage and has allowed eight goals for a 2.93 goals against average.
Head Coach Diane Madl enters her fourth year at the helm of the Friar field hockey program. Madl, an All-American and NCAA champion at the University of Connecticut, has compiled a 26-33 record in three years at Providence.
Lissa Munley named Big Ten Defenensive Player of the Week
This week the Big Ten office named Iowa goalkeeper Lissa Munley the Defensive Player of the Week.
Munley, a freshman from Mountain Top, PA, has started all five games for the Hawkeyes this season. She has recorded 18 saves and has had just six goals scored against her for a 1.54 goal average.
The Crestwood High School graduate picked up her first collegiate wins this past weekend in Iowa’s three-game sweep through California.
Munley’s first Big Ten accolade is the first for Iowa this season. The last Hawkeye to win a weekly honor was former All-American Barb Weinberg on Oct. 18, 2004.